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| [Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note |
Boletus edulis is a mushroom in the basidiomycete phyla. It is edible and known as porcini (from the plural of its Italian name porcino) and by other common names in different regions.
The fruiting body forms a large and imposing cap which can grow to reach 25 cm (10 in) in diameter and 1 kg (2.2 lb) in weight. Boletus edulis has symbiotic relation with conifers, including pine and fir trees, an ectomycorrhizal association. It is found in forests and plantations in mid-summer to autumn.
Prized as an ingredient in various foods, B. edulis is sold commercially. It is available fresh in autumn in Central Europe and Southern Europe, and is also dried and distributed worldwide.Common names for Boletus edulis vary by region. The name porcini meaning 'piglets' in Italian, as the young fruiting bodies resemble little piglets. A similar idea saw them called suilli by the Ancient Romans.
It is also known as cep (from its Catalan name cep or its French name cèpe, although the latter is a generic term applying to several species). The French name cèpe, or more fully cèpe de Bordeaux, is derived from the Gascon cep 'trunk' for its fat stalk. It is also known as king bolete and penny bun.The cap of this mushroom is 7–30 cm (3–12 in) broad at maturity, and slightly sticky. The color is generally reddish-brown fading to white in areas near the margin, and continues to darken as it matures. The stipe, or stem, is 8–25 cm (3.5–10 in) in height, and up to 7 cm (2.8 in) thick—rather large in comparison to the cap. The pores, which do not stain when bruised, are white in youth, fading to yellow and then to brown with age. The spore print is olive brown. Fully mature specimens can weigh about 1 kg (2.2 lb); a huge specimen collected on the Isle of Skye, Scotland, in 1995 bore a cap of 42 cm (16.5 in), with a stipe 18 cm (7.1 in) in height and 14 cm (5.5 in) wide, and weighed in at 3.2 kg (7.1 lb).
It is often confused with the very bitter and unpalatable Tylopilus felleus, but can be distinguished by the reticulation on the stalk; in porcini it is a whitish net-like pattern on a brownish stalk whereas it is a dark pattern on white in the latter. Porcini have whitish pores while the other has pink. If in doubt, tasting a tiny bit of flesh will yield a bitter taste. It can also look similar to the 'bolete-like' Gyroporus castaneus, which is generally smaller, and has a browner stem.Boletus edulis can grow singly or in small clusters of two or three specimens. Its habitat consists of areas dominated by pine (Pinus spp.), spruce (Picea spp.), hemlock (Tsuga spp.) and fir (Abies spp.) trees. Porcini may also be found in hardwood forests containing oaks. It fruits from summer to autumn, following sustained rainfall. |
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